Beyond the Adrian ’s Most Prominent

by Wifany Caudenly

Beyond The Univers

Wifany Caudenly [2A - F09DM0623] TABLE OF CONTENTS :

Exploring the Univers 4 6 7 Deberny & Peignot 8 Univers Weights The Frutiger Numbering 10 System Identifying Characteristics 12

14 Anatomy Comparison The great stroke of luck in my life is to have “been blessed first with an artistic feeling for shapes and second with an easy grasp of The Universe of Univers technical processes and of mathematics. 16 ~Adrian Frutiger ” 2 3 u•ni•vers Adrian Frutiger H mVDu PT i 1954 E aj s N k g e u xq dD O sX h T Br K E h F b Sc Gy I NUq uH ag LWyF P t p i AZ k x h l Z o kRiz n X H FG N gM N S u B W S y UTz In 1957, The Swiss e e qK z a typographer Adrian Frutiger J r designed a revolutionary C Rp typeface called Univers. N vPo n c Its simple sans- grotesque dF c d hj letterforms are renowned X o R Q e L for its legibility and graphic unity. t E f V Endowed with extreme versatility, k m M mB Z N Univers fulfils its duty as a utilitarian ft n JA workhorse throughout the world. W t L U AG L l vr s 4 | exploring the univers U exploring the univers | 5 Frutiger

Charles Peignot invit- Peignotopurchased So, from his early adrian ed Adrian Frutiger to the rights to Pho- sketches at the Zur- work at his company ton, theifirstiphoto- i ch o s ch o o l o f o r o t h e early life Deberny & Peignot typographyimachine appliediarts,oAdrian in 1952.oThere,owh in the United States Frutigerodeveloped hi- Adrian Frutiger was born May 24, 1928 in Unterseen, . ileisimultaneouslyid and began produc- somostofamous typefa- As a child, he disliked the handwriting style taught in school, a esigning the first of tion of it in France, ceoUnivers, which was tedious and pointed method called “Hulliger script”. To combat this, his many , where it would be published in 1957 and Frutiger rebelled by changing his handwriting style to consist of more Frutiger had the task c a l l e d i L u m i t y p e . subsequentlyobecame rounded and open letterforms. of redrawing classic Adrian Frutiger saw the first typeface to be in order to pre- the potential to de- manufacturedosimul- pare them for a new- sign a whole range taneously as hand-set ly emerging typeset- o f o w e i g h t s i a n d type, Monotype me- career ting technology. s t y l e s i u s i n g i t h i s chanical type, and pho- Upon finishing school in 1944, Adrian Frutiger moved to Interlaken new technology. to type, bridging all the at the age of 16 and completed a 4 year apprenticeship technological methods under Otto Schaeffli. Between 1948 and 1951 Frutiger attended type developed over the pre- and classes at the Zürich School for the Applied Arts, vious four centuries of instructed by Alfred Willimann and Walter Käch. The first sketches for typesetting. Univers he produced during this time reveal his appreciation for the relationship between positive and negative space.

method Frutiger’s style is heavily influenced by the arts and crafts of the region he was born and grew up in. He believes that his appreciation for simple black and white forms was inherited from his people. Instead of using black ink to produce his letterforms, Frutiger prefers to cut, scratch, and engrave his images, and likens his work to sculpture. Today he lives in Bern, Switzerland where he does woodcuts. originally conceived and released in 1957. conceived originally deberny

6 | adrian frutiger peignot deberny & peignot | 7 UNIVERS 93 Univers 39 Thin Ultra Condensed ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 85 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()-_=+ .,:;?”’‘/<>[\]{|}~‚„”—’“«‹›»–

Univers 55 Roman ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 73 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()-_=+ .,:;?”’‘/<>[\]{|}~‚„”—’“«‹›»–

55 Univers 73 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Black Extended abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 45 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()-_=+ UU .,:;?”’‘/<>[\]{|}~‚„”—’“«‹›»– 39 Univers 93 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Extra Black abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz U Extended 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()-_=+ .,:;?”’‘/<>[\]{|}~‚„”—’“«‹›»–

8 | univers weights UUU univers weights | 9 39

univers The Frutiger Numbering Sytem 45 46 47 48 49

From the beginning, Adrian Frutiger envisioned a new system of weight and univers univers univers univers univers style denotation based on numbers rather than imprecise names such as bold, light, 53 55 56 57 58 59 italic, condensed, and expanded. Instead, each font is assigned a two-digit number. The first digit or “prefix” denotes the weight of the font from lightest (2) to heaviest (9). The second digit or “suffix” indicates width of the font from most expanded (2) univers univers univers univers univers univers to most condensed (9). In addition, odd numbered suffixes indicate upright letter- forms whereas even numbered suffixes are oblique. In both cases, 5 describes the 63 65 66 67 68 most normal or roman attribute, thus Univers 55 represents standard book format. univers univers univers univers univers

73 75 76 The result of this organization yields 21 different fonts that are mathematically tabulated univers univers univers in a spectrum of weights and 83 styles. Many other typefaces have adopted this numbering system since then because of univers the greater flexibility it yields.

Weight Style Ultra Light 2 2 Ultra Extended 1 234567 89 Thin 3 3 Ultra Extended Oblique Light 4 4 Extended Roman 5 5 Roman Medium 6 6 Oblique Bold 7 7 Condensed Heavy 8 8 Condensed Oblique Extra Black 9 9 Ultra Condensed

10 | the frutiger numbering system the frutiger numbering system | 11 More stroke modulation than . Identifying Univers has a somewhat smaller x-height, and the base font sets Characteristics a little wider.

Legibility Vertical lines are wider than horizontal strokes. This subtle nuance makes for greater legibility. For x-height example B, M and R do not Uniform x-height, as well as stand out as darker forms. the ascenders and slightly shortened descenders are the same ratio between all fonts, making for ideal blending. Flexibility Univers was one of the first typefaces to be offered in lead type, phototypography, and digital methods of typesetting Grey effect Large oblique slope enhances the difference between straight and roman fonts so that grey effect of italics remains the same as Compability roman fonts. Lighter fonts such as 45 have Although Univers doesn’t mix well consistent and even grey value. KkDiagonal strokes of k with other sans serifs, it goes well meet at stem. with a range of transitional serifed fonts such as Baskerville. Squaring of round strokes.

12 | identifying characteristics identifying characteristics | 13 Q has a tail that is straight and does not intersect into Anatomy Comparison Q the . The shortened t has an angled apex Univers is often compared to others in the sans serif family, such as and a non-rounded tail. Helvetica, or Gill Sans. These other typefaces were also used frequently in the Swiss Style of design, and are therefore often confused with one another. Q Q Helvetica Neue

Futura a Futura Q a Helvetica Neue t t Helvetica Neue Helvetica Neue tGill Sans Gill Sans a Gill Sans G y Futura a tFutura y The a has a straight tail and a large bowl. Gill Sans y G Helvetica Neue Helvetica Neue y R Futura

R Gill Sans G The descenders of y is straight R and shortened. Futura R is lacking a spur R’s leg is slightly flared out. 14 | anatomy comparison G anatomy comparison | 15 Univers is one of the first Originally, it was to be named , which “typefaces that give so many Monde translates into “world” in French and “moon” in options for designers. “ German. But since the typeface was to be pro- ” moted internationally, the name Univers was U chosen for its universally understood meaning.”

Univers has been a popular choice among ni “companies and for signage globally. ve ”

Beautiful along with “the strong background colors, a Based on old typeface hint of a griduni structure and a nice “called Akzidenz-Grotesk. use of a font size. ” 16rs | the universe of univers ” versthe universe of univers | 17 T h i n k i o f i i t i a s i a i S w i s s i d e s i g n ““ with a French heart. As its weight in- creases, this personality becomes more apparent.iThe slight (but clearly visible) contrast in stroke weight, subtle an- gularity, and just the smallest hint of Designed by Adrian Frutiger and released calligraphic brush stroke make Univers by Deberny and Peignot in 1957, about a typeface with a twinkle in its eye. the same time that Helvetica was released NIVERSand in response to the same perceived need for a utilitarian, versatile sans serif ~Allan Haley workhorse. Some feel that the modulated ” strokes give it a bit more character than Helvetica. It was designed as a full system ” of fonts with a wide range of weights, un- like Helvetica, which spawned variants in a rather disordered way (this disorder was addressed, much later, with the release of Helvetica Neue). Universe was the first typeface in which the weights were clas- sified with a numerical system. Univers 55 is probably the base text font the one most similar in weight to the standard ver- sion of Helvetica anyway but a nice thing about Univers is that the lighter weights, especially 45, have even color and can be used to set continuous text. Univers has a somewhat smaller x-height than Helvetica, and the base font sets a little wider. (But both typefaces come in many flavors.) 18 U19